Construction crews have started work on the North Village, a luxury residential community within a 47-acre nature preserve on the oceanfront barrier island of Vero Beach along Florida’s Treasure Coast.
It is the final phase of a 472-acre exclusive seaside sporting and residential community known as Windsor that was originally founded by the Westons, one of Canada’s most esteemed families, in the early 1990s.
The North Village will be an extension of the Windsor community and feature 34 homesites averaging 75-by-100 feet and six row houses ranging from 3,500 to 4,500 square feet adjacent to the Indian River Lagoon.
The private community has been crafted to feature a heightened commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency as well as embrace practices that reduce its ecological footprint.
Betsy Hanley, president of Windsor Real Estate Inc., says the focus on sustainability is deliberate and buyers have responded, as 60-per-cent of homes have already been sold.
“The North Village has resonated with buyers looking for a quiet coastal experience who also prioritize and practice an environmentally friendly lifestyle in their everyday lives,” she explained in a statement. “We’ve created a new standard for sustainable luxury living with some of the most innovative and trusted designers in the world.”
The construction team is presently doing prep work at the project site while awaiting final permits. Infrastructure construction is expected to begin in late summer or fall, according to the project team.
“Currently, there is a lot of preliminary work being done at the site such as the removal of invasive species and relocation of trees as well as a recent baseline bird study,” the team said in a statement for the Daily Commercial News.
Contracts for the homesites and rowhouses are expected to close in the fourth quarter of next year. Buyers will have two years to begin construction, but it’s expected many will begin immediately upon closing.
Windsor is a legacy endeavor started by W. Galen and Hilary M. Weston of Toronto. They visited South Florida in search of a winter home and became enchanted by the property. Now, Hilary Weston and daughter Alannah Weston are completing the project and have shaped the vision for the North Village.
The project will feature a mix of residences and green public spaces, including a park, firepits and scenic trails for walking, biking or horseback riding, an observation lookout and kayak launch. More than 26.5 acres of the site will be devoted to parks, greens and islands and nearly 9.7 acres are water.
The community will also have a 12,620-square-foot fitness and wellness centre equipped with spa treatment rooms, relaxation spaces and a juice bar.
DPZ CoDesign, whose planners Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk initially designed Windsor, have been tapped to extend the master plan to the North Village.
Residences are being geared to achieve Passive House certification for energy efficiency by using less energy for heating and cooling and using features like continuous insulation, high-performance windows and balanced heat and moisture recovery ventilation to optimize indoor air quality.
The homes will have technology that turns off HVAC systems during the most temperate months of the year.
Landscaping designs will be led by Dept., a Houston-based landscape architecture and urban design studio, and landscape architect Edwina von Gal, and will be heavily influenced by the nearby lagoon.
The project team is working with the non-profit Perfect Earth Project founded by von Gal to develop nature-based, toxic-free land care practices for all of the North Village community spaces and private homes
The village, meanwhile, will protect neighbouring wildlife and support the coastal wetland ecosystem through a combination of management practices. They include the use of local, natural, renewable materials, minimization of noise, light, particle and air pollution, and elimination of pesticides.
According to the project team, a closed-loop biomass management system will be deployed and water use will be reduced. Every home will feature native species plants in the landscaping as well as water features to enhance the natural surroundings. Landscape materials will be sourced from within a 350-mile radius.
Once complete, homes within the North Village will be required to achieve a third-party sustainability certification, specifically PhiusCORE accreditation from Passive House Institute U.S.
Homes built within the village will have to adhere to strict regulations governing architectural design and materials. There will be restrictions on window shutters and the use of solar panel roofing systems.
All indoor appliances will be required to be fully electric, according to the project team. Meantime, a leading bird scholar has been tapped to conduct a study to give the developer knowledge about which birds are likely to use the property and how the landscape plan can help increase the avian population.
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